The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 967 The storm is coming

"Stocks continue to be traded, dances continue to be performed, and horses continue to run." This is a portrayal of Hong Kong's current situation.

Although the situation in Southeast Asia is constantly reported in newspapers and on television news, not many people in Hong Kong care about it.

From the cold winter of 1982 to the present, Hong Kong's economy has maintained rapid development for 15 years, and has become the most developed city in Asia, surpassing Tokyo.

The long period of rapid economic development has made Hong Kong citizens full of optimism, and they do not believe that Hong Kong will be affected by the Southeast Asian financial crisis.

They did not realize that 15 years of rapid development had also led to a considerable bubble in Hong Kong.

The most obvious thing is that Hong Kong's housing prices have already reached a new peak. Everyone in Hong Kong is speculating in stocks and real estate, pushing Hong Kong's housing prices to an astonishing level.

Real estate in Central, Hong Kong is as high as HK$33 to HK$53.8 per square meter. Residential properties in slightly better locations cost as much as over Hong Kong dollars per square meter. An office building can easily cost tens or even hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars.

Hong Kong has a large number of almost crazy "property speculators" who invest blindly in real estate. In order to seize opportunities, many people often make hasty decisions to buy luxury homes based solely on the description given by the real estate agent over the phone.

Ordinary Hong Kong citizens do not feel the danger, but several major banks in Hong Kong have already taken action and started to recover as many "dangerous" loans as possible just after the Chinese New Year.

This time, Liu Tao's advance deployment made him gain considerable profits in Southeast Asia.

At this time in Hong Kong, after eight months of preparation, sufficient ammunition had been prepared for a big battle.

As for how many people will go bankrupt this time, that is not something they have to consider at all.

Even this financial crisis will not only affect ordinary families, but will also have a great impact on many wealthy people in Hong Kong, especially those who have been obsessed with real estate operations in Hong Kong in recent years. All the money they have earned over the years will be vomited out this time.

There are also some wealthy Hong Kong people who have invested heavily in Southeast Asia and are now suffering huge losses.

It was at this time that Soros, invincible in Southeast Asia and extremely confident, led international speculators to move to the international financial center of Hong Kong, targeting Hong Kong's linked exchange rate system.

In the eyes of international speculators, Hong Kong, as an international financial center, is a big piece of fat meat. In 1996, Hong Kong's GDP reached US$3617.3 billion, far exceeding the GDP of any country including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

In the office of the Hong Kong Bank's headquarters building, Liu Tao was looking at the Victoria Harbour outside with a smile on his face.

The storm is brewing. He seemed to see the international speculators coming in with great momentum, with green light in their eyes, as if they were about to take a mad bite of the big piece of fat meat of Hong Kong.

After dealing with many things and making arrangements, Liu Tao came to Hong Kong to take charge.

"dong dong dong~~"

"Come in!" Liu Tao said.

"Leader!" Secretary Wu Qiang walked in respectfully.

As Liu Tao's secretary, even the presidents of Hong Kong Bank and Standard Chartered Bank had to be polite to him.

But Wu Qiang knew that their attitude towards him was simply because he was Liu Tao's secretary.

He faced countless temptations, but he persevered.

If you take this path, one mistake will ruin your life and there will be no possibility of recovery.

Liu Tao's secretary position is a high-risk job. Over the past decade or so, countless people have been thrown into prison or even had to eat peanuts.

In particular, the secretary in charge of work in Hong Kong is in the most dangerous position.

From 1981 to the present, eight of Liu Tao's secretaries in Hong Kong have fallen. The lightest of them was sentenced to ten years in prison, three were sentenced to life imprisonment, and two were sentenced to death.

Wu Qiang wanted to climb up the social ladder. He knew very well that wealth was just a tool in the face of power. He could get it but not spend it.

Even if you manage to escape abroad, it will be useless, you will be caught and brought back.

No one has been spared over the years.

Only living a safe and stable life is the first priority. His goal is to be transferred back to the secretariat of the headquarters, or to serve as the secretary general of other leaders, or to be transferred to another company as a leader.

"Well, what's the situation?" Liu Tao asked.

Wu Qiang flipped through the documents and began to report seriously, after all, it involved a huge amount of money.

"Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia earned US$230 billion and RMB 56 billion, and the total revenue is expected to reach US$1290 billion." Wu Qiang was the first to report on Nanyang's revenue situation.

In Southeast Asia, there is no financial market in Annan, not to mention Laos and Cambodia. Myanmar is in the midst of war, so how can there be any financial market?

230 billion US dollars and 56 billion RMB are cash earnings in the financial market. Judging from this ratio, the Southeast Asian countries still prefer the US dollar as foreign exchange reserves, and the proportion of RMB is not high.

So far, the Southeast Asian financial crisis has hit all Southeast Asian countries and wiped out their wealth.

Cash income is only part of the income.

You know, there will be income from loan collateral. Many people will not be able to repay bank loans, and the loan collateral will become the bank. There are also gold, jewelry and other things, which will also become the bank.

In addition, there is the bank’s exchange rate profit, and there will be a profit if you buy at a low price.

"At present, a part of the funds are being allocated to prepare for the continued addition of international hot money." Wu Qiang continued to report.

The next targets of international speculators are nothing more than Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea in East Asia, and the polar bear.

The polar bears can't go here. If they turn hostile, they'll give away as many as they want.

This is the power of a sovereign state. If you dare to go too far, they will overturn the table.

No matter how powerful international hot money is, how many guns, divisions, and missiles do they have?

"Hong Kong cashed out a total of HK$4800 billion, and Japan and South Korea cashed out a total of US$220 billion," said Wu Qiang.

Hong Kong's cashing out began last year.

He holds a large number of listed company stocks and a large number of stocks of his own company, and slowly cashes them out when the prices are high.

When Hong Kong was booming, no one cared.

The cashing out in Japan and South Korea has only been going on since the Spring Festival this year.

It is also because we have Hong Kong Bank and Standard Chartered Bank to serve as cover, otherwise it would not be so easy.

It can be said that they now have sufficient ammunition and will not lose even if they fight against international speculators.

Not to mention, there are allies, and the Hong Kong government has tens of billions of dollars in foreign exchange reserves.

There is a powerful backer behind Hong Kong.

Liu Tao really couldn't imagine that there was any possibility of losing this battle.

In the eyes of international speculators, Hong Kong is a big piece of fat meat.

But in Liu Tao's eyes, these international speculators are also a big piece of fat meat.

If you dare to come, don't even think about leaving without leaving money for the passage.

Liu Tao chuckled. He also wanted to know how much Soros would be willing to pay and then withdraw from Hong Kong.

Wu Qiang continued to report. As the secretary in charge of Hong Kong affairs, he had to be fully aware of the situation in Hong Kong. He had to be the first to understand and grasp the situation of Liu Tao's instructions and report every detail.

(End of this chapter)